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Living Packets launches a 1,000x reusable smart shipping box

Startup Living Packets has launched The Box, a smart shipping box reusable more than 1,000 times with a 5kg capacity. The Box features a user interface allowing customers to pay for, or return items by simply pressing in-built buttons, and features a holding system for contents developed to replace wasteful plastic or paper package fillers. Continued connectivity helps The Box to bolster logistical efficiency and consumer services, while also reducing environmental impacts from transportation.

So what?

E-Commerce, already over a £3 trillion market, is growing at a staggering 20% annually, and shows no sign of waning. With millions of packages delivered globally every day, the amount of packaging waste produced is immense. Could Living Packet’s reusable shipping box significantly reduce this waste? Will reusable shipping packages become the norm and diversify in size and capacity? With competitors like Limeloop reusable shippers using upcycled vinyl to create low-cost, waterproof shipping bags, the single-use shipping package market may be set for disruption. Considering that The Box requires more resources to produce, at what threshold does the reusable smart shipping box become environmentally less detrimental than traditional packaging, and how many times more than 1000 might they be used? If scaled globally, how many such reusable packets would be required to supply global shipping demand? Furthermore, could hacking or privacy concerns arise with “connected”, reusable packages in use by multiple senders and receivers?